Carpathian 06 - Dark Fire

Tempest's stomach seemed to rebel against the broth, but she didn't want to hurt Syndil's feelings, so she tried to eat it. Even so, without Darius's aid she probably wouldn't have kept it down.
    Darius had been so quiet when he joined her. He watched her work on the truck, clearly unhappy when she made a list of things she would need that they didn't already have. That meant she would have to make a trip to the nearest town during daylight hours. He hadn't argued, but he told her he would sleep the sleep of humans, not Carpathians, so that he would be available should she need him.
    Tempest cleaned up carefully as she contemplated what Darius might have meant. What was the difference? Would it somehow harm him? She knew none of his family members agreed with his decision, none of them liked it, yet no one argued with him or even went so far as to register a simple protest. Their uneasiness caught at her. She could tell none of them blamed her for Darius's resolution, yet she knew they were concerned about Darius and what he was doing.
    The money they had handed her so casually was quite substantial. She folded it, shoved it into her pocket, and resolutely climbed into the little sports car. She had a bad feeling about Darius coming to harm, so she wasn't going to take any chances on getting lost. Twice last night she had driven the route to town with Darius beside her, just to reassure him she would be able to make her way there and back without a problem. Still, her sense of dread persisted. She just seemed to attract trouble everywhere she went.
    Tempest enjoyed the solitude of the drive, the highway winding down a mountain, the tight turns, the speed and smoothness of the vehicle, but there was a heaviness in her heart, growing much more difficult to ignore. She found herself needing the touch of Darius's mind. She actually felt grief seeping in, troubling Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    thoughts. That something had happened to Darius. That he was lying hurt somewhere. That he was in danger. It was nonsense, her brain told her, but nevertheless she found herself wanting to weep uncontrollably.
    Calistoga was pretty town, rather famous for its mud and mineral baths. She found the auto parts store without incident, purchased the supplies she needed, and made her exit. Thinking about Darius instead of watching where she was going, she nearly tripped over the man lounging against the little red car at the curb. The man steadied her easily even as he smoothly removed the packages from her arms and stowed them in her car. Tempest blinked up at him. He was looking at her as if he knew her. He wasn't particularly tall, but he was handsome in a blond, surfer kind of way. "Do I know you?" she asked, unable to place him.
    "My name is Cullen Tucker, ma'am," he drawled with the slightest of Southern accents. He held out a photograph.
    Biting her lip, realizing this was the trouble she had been expecting. Tempest glanced at the picture of herself. "Where in the world did you get that?" It was a great likeness of her, with butterflies thick in the air, alighting on her head and shoulders. Her arms were stretched out, and she was laughing. The sun was behind her, and her feet were in the stream.
    Cullen examined her expression. "Did you know the man who took this photograph?"
    "No. I certainly didn't pose for it." Tempest edged around him, preparing to bolt into the driver's seat.
    She was an excellent driver, and more than once in her rather misspent youth she had even outrun the police. She had confidence in the car, too. If she could get behind the wheel, she would be gone.
    "Don't be frightened," he said softly. "I'm actually trying to help you. Can we go somewhere to talk?"
    "I'm in the middle of a big job," she hedged.
    "Please, it's important. A few minutes. We'll go somewhere public, so you won't be afraid of me. I don't want to sound dramatic, or like a nutcase, but it's a matter of life and death," he insisted.
    Tempest closed her eyes for a moment, sighing in resignation. Of course it was a matter of life and death.
    What else would it be, when she was involved? She finally introduced herself, offering her hand. "I'm Tempest Trine." There was something about Cullen Tucker that she couldn't define, but she believed him to be inherently sincere. Simultaneously she wanted to groan aloud at her own introduction; Darius had her thinking of herself as Tempest instead of Rusti.